Vegan Lemon Raspberry Cake
It is hard to believe it is July already. Summer has really settled here in New England, and maybe because we have such a short season, we are outside more, appreciating the beauty all around. With the 4th of July in just a couple of days, I thought I would make a Vegan Lemon Raspberry Cake, a perfect way to celebrate this important day.
My dad loves this cake. The other day he told me this vegan lemon raspberry cake was a “lick-the-plate” kind of cake. I love it too! You can be so creative when decorating this cake. You can add some blueberries and make it a red, white, and blue cake for the 4th, or you can decorate it with lemons and mint for a different look. I chose to decorate with raspberries and mint this time. It is Raspberry Season, and the berries are large, sweet, juicy, and flavorful. What a perfect time to make a Raspberry Cake.
I planted raspberry bushes in my garden this year; I am so excited for next year when we should have an abundance of raspberries. In the meantime, there are plenty of excellent farm stands that carry raspberries this time of year. They are so much better when they have a chance to ripen before they are picked.
There is a hint of lemon in the cake and frosting, which pairs so wonderfully with raspberries. If you like lemon flavor, add some extra to both the cake and frosting. The recipe for this cake calls for just a hint of lemon.
This Vegan Lemon Raspberry cake is not a difficult cake to make, but the cake has to cool completely before the frosting is applied. I have found that vegan cakes dry out in the fridge, so limit the time the cake is in the fridge. If you make the cake the night before, it may be best to freeze the cake overnight and then ice in the morning. This cake freezes really well.
Not Overly Sweet:
This cake recipe may be a little less sweet then you are used to, but I did this on purpose as I have found that the slightly less sweet cake pairs so well with the sweeter frosting.
The consistency in the frosting can be dependent on temperature. It can get a little wet if too hot, just pop it in the fridge for a few moments, it will harden right up.
As you know, I love to bake, and I’ll use any excuse to bake. This wonderful cake is healthier for you because it has no dairy and no eggs.
Cake Pans:
For this recipe I used three 6 inch cake pans. I like to use smaller pans, and instead bake more layers so that my cake is a bit taller:) You can adjust and use whatever cake pans you have on hand. Here is the one I use on Amazon:
Happy 4th of July:
It’s time for me to wish you a Happy 4th of July. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, get outside, enjoy the summer weather, but be sure to stay safe.
Click Here to Watch Me Make this Recipe on YouTube!
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Vegan Raspberry Lemon Cake
- Yield: 1 (6in.) Cake with 3 tiers 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Dry:
- 2 1/3 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
Wet:
- 2/3 cup oil
- 1 1/3 cups milk
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons apple sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Grease the cake pans (I used three 6 in. pans)
- Combine and mix dry ingredients
- Combine wet ingredients
- When oven is ready, mix dry and wet ingredients together, stir until combined. Pour into three 6 in. pans
- Bake at 20-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean
- Remove from oven and let cool
Frosting:
- 1 cup vegan margarine, Earth Balance ( I sometimes use half Earth Balance and half vegetable shortening)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla powder
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- With an electric mixer, whip margarine and shortening until light and fluffy (about 10 min.)
- Sift the powdered sugar and vanilla powder
- Add sugar to the electric mixer and continue to whip for another couple of minutes
Raspberry Jam:
Click Here to Watch Video on How to Assemble and Decorate this Cake!
Notes
If the frosting is too wet, add more powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time until you get the right spreading consistency. You can also harden the icing by placing it in the fridge for a few minutes.
(Read my affiliate discloser here.)
Dad says this is a fantastic cake! I’m Dad.
Thank you, Dad:)
Any way to make it sugar free? I’m looking for healthy ( no sugar) desserts. Live your show ❤️
I have never made this recipe sugar free. I would think it would take a little experimenting. Thank you so much for watching my videos. I really appreciate the support.
I will sare my experience on that with you. I made the layers with stevia and it gave it a bitter taste (everybody liked the cake, but I could tell it’s wrong). Stevia never gave me that before in my baking, I know erythritol can give a chemical aftertaste, but this is the first time happened with stevia. Could be a new brand. I tried new brown stevia. 😏 That’s why I don’t like experimenting with new recipes I haven’t tried yet, but I made cake for diabetics, so I had to cut on sugar. Frosting kept the same, no idea how to make it without powder.
Thank you so much for your comment, Olga! I am sorry to hear that the cake turned bitter when using stevia. I have not baked much with stevia before, but I will have to experiment. Thank you for the 5-star review.
Is there a substitute for the vanilla powder?
Great question! The reason we use vanilla powder is to help keep a very white color, but vanilla extract will work too.
The video says you use apple sauce, but the website does not mention apple sauce as an ingredient. Which one is right? How much apple sauce, if the video is the one I should follow?
I am so sorry! I normally add 2 tablespoons of apple sauce to my cake recipes. I have fixed this on the website. Thank you so much for letting me know!
I’ve made many vegan lemon cakes, however, this was the best!! Thank you for all your hard work and delicious recipes Chef Ani! ?
Aww… Thank you so much for your sweet comment! I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the Lemon Cake! It is one of my favorites. Thank you for the 5-star review. That really helps me out. Happy New Year!
What size tip did you use for piping the icing?
Great question! I use the round tip from this set, but I think I would prefer something slightly smaller.
This cake is unbelievable. Just the best vegan cake ever. No joke. It’s not dense and heavy like all the others I’ve tried and let me tell you, I’ve tried at least 15 different recipes. This is now my go to recipe for any vanilla based flavoured cake. I doubled the recipe and used two 9inch pans fir a two layer cake. I also used your recipe for the raspberry middle, but did a lemon cream cheese frosting/filling (filling had two layers: frosting and jam). It was delish. Thanks for posting.
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Thamara! I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the Lemon Raspberry cake. The lemon cream cheese frosting/filling sounds amazing! Thank you so much for taking the time to try my recipe, for leaving me such an encouraging comment, and for the 5-star review. I so appreciate it.
Hi, thank you for the amazing recipe?
is there anything that can substitute for the lemon extract?
Thank you!
Great question, Heeju! You can definitely leave the lemon extract out of the recipe. It just adds a slight lemon flavor, but the recipe is still good without it.
Hi Ani! This cake looks delicious! I love watching your videos. How long do u leave each layer in the fridge for? Thanks!
Thank you so much for the 5 star review. That helps me out so much! I so appreciate it! I leave the layers in the fridge until the icing is hard enough that you can place another cake on top (usually 20-30 minutes).
Hi Chef Ani thank you for this recipe and the cake is just WOW. Can’t wait to try the recipe.
Ive been looking to do what I can to learn and bake vegan or egg free cakes for my daughter. Who cannot eat the white of eggs, butter no milk etc… Please can you give me the recipe in grams? And what is shrotening?
Thank you if you help me bake a ” girly”beautiful pink and gold deco. I have a white drip and learnt to make flowers wih gumpaste.
Thank you.
Janice Suzanna.
Thank you so much for the 5 star review. That really helps me out. Thank you so much! I am working on a plugin to convert recipes into grams, but the one I am using it is not quite ready yet. I hope to be able to provide grams in the near future. Sounds like you are planning an amazing “girly” cake. I love gum paste flowers too.
This was delicious. I need to make a vanilla cake, can I use this recipe without the lemon components or would I need to add something in lieu of them? Thanks
It needs the lemon for curdling the milk, which makes a lighter cake, but you could use apple cider vinegar instead. I would also add some vanilla.
Hi, i tried this recipe. The cake wasnt as fluffy as a egg based cake. I used buttermilk instead of apple sauce & used maple syrup for sugar. Please let me know what went wrong. Thanks!
Su
I am so sorry to hear that. I suspect that by replacing apple sauce and sugar with buttermilk and maple syrup, you ended up with too much liquid, which changed the ratio of dry to wet ingredients. This ratio is so important when baking. If you add more liquid than what the recipe calls for, be sure to add more flour also.
I can’t wait to try baking this on Saturday!
I only have 2x 8 inch cake tins – how long would I bake it for?
Great question! I would suggest that you start checking at 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Happy Baking!
We made this today for our son’s rehearsal dinner party. The only substitution was we used homemade blackberry jam. The cake favor is phenomenal! It is very moist, just delicious. This will be my go-to cake. Thank you for your wonderful videos!
Awww… Thank you so much for your sweet comment! I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the cake recipe. Blackberry Jam sounds amazing! I will have to try that.
What kind of flower , oil and milk do you use?
Great questions! In this cake recipe I use All-Purpose Flour, canola oil, and almond milk!
Hi Chef Ani, I’m making your lemon cake now, I can’t wait to eat it (my mom said I must share it, but the way it looks sooo good, I don’t think I’ll share it????????????). Best recipe ever!
Ps: I hope your cookbook goes well, and I’m soo inspired by you, I’m also trying to create my own recipes ????.
This is from your biggest fan Hadassah Lutya (I’m 14)
Aww… Thank you so much for your incredibly sweet comment, Hadassah! It is so nice to hear from you! Thank you for trying my Lemon Cake! It is one of my favorites. It would be so fun to cook together someday! Keep up the good work. I am sure your family loves your baking/cooking. Sending hugs!
Hi! I can’t wait to give this recipe a go! How would I go about serving for 12 people? Thank you 🙂
Hi Adriana! This recipe makes a 6in cake, which serves about 8 people.
I love this cake I made 20 of them
Fantastic! I am so happy you like the cake recipe! It is one of my favorites!
I made this cake 40 times it is so yummy
Wow! Thank you so much, Emily! I am very impressed!
Thank yo soooo much Ani! I’m excited to try this recipe out! Love your videos!
Thank you so much for watching my videos, Emma! I hope you enjoy this cake recipe! It is one of my favorites!
OMG this cake is amazing! I just made it last night for my mom’s birthday. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfectly. Thank you so much, I will definitely be making this cake again and again!
Awww… I am so happy to hear that, Kamielle! Thank you so much for trying my vegan lemon raspberry cake. It is one of my favorites!
I don’t see raspberries in the recipe?
Great question! I like to add a raspberry jam filling in between the layers of lemon cake. This adds a beautiful red color between the layers of cake and lots of fresh raspberry flavor.
I made this for my son’s birthday and it was delicious! Can I bake the cake in two 9 inch bake pans rather than three 6 inch bake pans?
Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Tina. I am so happy you enjoyed it! Yes, you can bake this cake in two 9-inch cake pans, although you may have to keep an eye on the baking time in case they cook at a different pace.